Although the Pony Express existed for only one and a half years it proved that the Central Route to California was usable year round. It was carried to California in 7 days and 17 hours. The fastest piece of mail in the history of the Pony Express was President Abraham Lincoln's inaugural address. The cost of mail-a whopping $5.00 per one-half ounce at first and then later the price was reduced to $1.00 per one-half ounce. The horses were changed every 10 to 15 miles at the relay stations with riders averaging about 10 miles per hour. Riders were paid from $50 to $100 per month, ranging in age from 11 to the mid-40s, weighing less than 125 pounds. On an average day a rider could cover 100 miles.
There was an estimated 150 to 190 relay stations. Russell, with two partners, built relay stations every 5 to 20 miles, with fresh horses. Joseph was a vast unknown land inhabited by Natives. Except for a few settlements and military forts, the route beyond St. Joseph was the starting point for the direct 2,000-mile route to the West. Orphans preferred." Later the ad was rewritten to be less restrictive. Must be expert riders willing to risk death daily. His ad in the newspapers seeking riders read: "Wanted. Russell who had failed repeatedly in getting postal backing to carry mail. In 1860, the Pony Express was the brainchild of William H. Californians felt their isolation from lack of regular mail so a better idea was needed. The stages used the 2,800 mile southern route between Tipton, Missouri and San Francisco, California, specified as a 24-day run but often taking months.
The Overland Mail Company stage line of John Butterfield was also awarded a contract. During this time some mail was carried by the military between Fort Leavenworth and Santa Fe. After the 1848 gold rush, the Post Office Department awarded a contract to the Pacific Mail Steamship Company to transport mail to California. Wagon trains transported some of the mail, but were often targets of ambushes and other tragedies. By the 1850s, the population began to flow into the newly acquired Louisiana, Oregon and California territories. In the 1830s, trains transported some mail (4.5 miles in 35 minutes) in the East, but Americans were migrating and tracks would take decades to span to newly settled areas. Steamboats were used for mail carrying where no roads existed. Roads, which became known as post roads, were in better condition because of the mail coaches. In 1761, John Foxcroft of New York served asīy 1800, the Post Office Department had purchased a number of stagecoaches for mail transport. John Hamilton, the widow's son, was appointed Deputy Postmaster General of America. In 1707, the British government bought the rights to the North American postal service from West and the widow of Hamilton. This did not prove to be a lucrative move for him-he died in debt after assigning his postal interest over to fellow Englishmen Andrew Hamilton and R. In 1683, William Penn established Pennsylvania's first post office, while in the south private messengers, often slaves, delivered and picked up mail.Īround 1691 Thomas Neale of England received a 21-year grant from the British Crown for a postal service in the colonies. Old Boston Post Road is part of today's Route 1. In 1673, New York's Governor Francis Lovelace set up a monthly horseback post between New York and Boston. The General Court of Massachusetts designated Richard Fairbanks' tavern in Boston as the official site of mail delivery going to or coming from overseas, a practice long used by England. In 1633, the first official notice of a postal service in the colonies appeared. Most of this correspondence, however, was between the colonists and family members back home in England. In early colonial times, letter writers sent their correspondence by friends, merchants and Native Americans via foot or horseback.
Back in Time Transportation in America's Postal System
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